A Closer Look: Arizona takes care of Cougars

Brad Allis

02/28/2004

Salim Stoudamire returned from his suspension and led the Cats to their 38th straight win over WSU. The win likely clinched an NCAA Tournament bid, while the Cougars have to hope they can keep hold of the eighth and final spot in the Pac-10 Tournament.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Salim Stoudamire. Stoudamire scored 21 points and held WSU's Marcus Moore to just five points.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Andre Iguodala's cradle slam. Iguodala had the ball on the wing, used a crossover to fake out his defender and then sped unimpeded to the hole where he cradled the ball like a football before slamming it home.

TURNNG POINT
Arizona came out focused and built an early 17-7 lead. WSU would get it within five, but could get no closer.

WHAT WENT RIGHT
Arizona came out strong. They trailed just once in the opening minutes. The were great defensively in the first half and solid for the game.

WHAT WENT WRONG
The Cats built a 27-point lead but let the Cougars get back within 11 late.

SIGN OF UNITY
Late in the second half Mustafa Shakur and Salim Stoudamire stood side by side at midcourt waiting for the Cougars to inbound the ball. Both players stood in their defensive stance and simultaneously slapped the floor with their palms.

THE STREAK
The Cougars have lost 38 in a row to the Wildcats.

OFFENSIVE WOES
Thomas Kelati was the lone Cougar to have more than two field goals. Kelati had 11 field goals in the game. Without Kelati the remaining Cougars shot just 28.9%. With Kelati the number climbed to 41.4%.

CAREER HIGH
Andre Iguodala had a career high 16 rebounds. His previous high was 15.

NO MOORE
Marcus Moore was held to just five points. Moore scored 29 in the teams' first meeting and had 35 in his lone game against the Cats last year.

SHOW SOME LOVE
One of the UA's in-game promotions is to scan the crowd with cameras, showing the best fans on the video screens. The winner was a middle-aged man with face paint, a jester's hat and Mardi-Gras beads. The woman sitting next to him held up a sign that said "I'm NOT with him." She may have been embarrassed, but she'll probably enjoy the free sandwiches he won.

NOT SO GOOD
WSU's Jeff Varem had eight turnovers, more than his field goals, rebounds and assists combined.

THREE-POINTERS
Arizona took just nine three pointers in the game, more than ten under their season average. Stoudamire took seven of the nine, making all three of the Cats' three-pointers.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"I think it was some kind of B2K, N'Sync thing."--Andre Iguodala said jokingly of Shakur and Stoudamire's in-unison hand slap. He was refering to pop music groups that use choreographed dance moves.